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History of Top Tin:
The idea for Top Tin Street
Rods was first proposed during a discussion in the summer of 1974 between Clark
McDaniel and Larry Davidson concerning a need for a car club in the Krum (Denton
County, Texas) area.
The idea was put on hold and not seriously discussed again until an article
appeared in the Denton Record Chronicle about a street rod club that
formed in the Sanger, Texas area. Because of a long-standing rivalry between Krum
and Sanger, the need for a local club to compete against the Sanger club was
again discussed. They decided that enough street rodders lived in the Krum
area to form a club. Ironically, by the second meeting of Top Tin, the
Sanger club had disbanded, and its members had joined Top Tin.
The first meeting of Top Tin
Street Rods was held in Denton, Texas, at 900 Londonderry, Apt. 120, on
Halloween night, 1974. Those present were Jonas Davis, Clark McDaniel,
Larry Davidson, and Rickey Davidson (Larry's older brother). The first
order of business was to elect officers. The first method of electing
officers was to put the names of everyone present into a hat, and then draw for
positions. Although he was absent from the meeting, Rusty Hamm, a local
street rodder, was also included. Each person then drew a name from
the hat for the various positions. Coincidentally, each person drew his
own name for a position. This led to utilizing another method to decide
the officers. As a result, the club's original elected officers were:
Larry Davidson -- President
Clark McDaniel -- Vice President
Rusty Hamm -- Secretary
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The first meetings of the
club were held every two weeks. It was at a special meeting before the
second regular club meeting that a name was chosen for the club. Rickey
Davidson's entry "Top Tin Street Rods," with the suggestion to spell
it "T-i-n" instead of "T-e-n" was chosen over other entries,
such as "The Krum Street Rod Assn." and "The Rod Gallery."
The words "of Denton County" were added to make the club county-wide,
rather than limited to the Krum community area.
In order to be gain
acceptance by the community, an effort was made to attend city council meetings
within the county to inform them of the formation of the club. However, only one
meeting was attended, the December 1974 meeting in Krum, at which the council
granted the club their full endorsement!
The
club later became affiliated with National Street Rod Association (NSRA) in 1975
and Lone Star Street Rod Association (LSSRA) the following year.
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